The vihara of compassion: an introduction to Buddhist care for the dying and bereaved in the modern world

摘要

The modern hospice movement is generally understood to have begun with the founding in 1967 by Cicely Saunders of the St. Christopher's Hospice in the United Kingdom. As the movement has grown, it has inspired Buddhists in Asia to rediscover and revive their own traditions around death and caring for the terminally ill and the bereaved that date back to the time of the Buddha. In Asia and the West as well, we are witnessing the work of several groups attempting to apply Buddhist teachings and practices in modern medical settings or develop new institutions for holistic care based in Buddhist values. This paper draws on research conducted by the Ojo and Death Project established in 2006 by the Jodo Shu Research Institute (JSRI) in Tokyo, that is to be published in a volume by Wisdom Publications under the title, Buddhist Care for the Dying and Bereaved: Global Perspectives edited by Watts and Tomatsu (2012).1  1. This volume is the second publication of the Jodo Shu Research Institute's (JSRI) project, ‘Ojo and death: Its meaning for Pure Land Buddhism, Japanese Buddhism and contemporary society.’ The Ojo and Death Project has sought to confront a variety of practical issues that directly impact the average Japanese, such as: Japan's rapidly ageing society coupled with its low birth rate, the subsequent financial crisis in the ability to take care of the elderly and dying, and the Japanese medical establishment's outdated approach to patient care. The project has also, of course, tried to confront the crisis of the growing irrelevancy of the Buddhist priests and temples in the lives of their lay followers. View all notes It shows some of the innovative work that Buddhists in Asia and the West are doing in the area of caring for the terminally ill and, also, the bereaved, explores issues that can be seen especially well in the Japanese context, and reviews shared fundamental issues that emerged across the whole range of organizations studied over the first five years of this research programme.View full textDownload full textRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14639947.2012.669284